NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 2, 2026
Milestone performance for Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer and Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov, the Kings fire head coach Jim Hiller, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF SUNDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Matthew Schaefer scored two goals, and Anders Lee netted the game-winner with 32 seconds left in the third period to lift the New York Islanders over the Florida Panthers 5-4. Sam Bennett scored twice while Matthew Tkachuk had three assists for the 30-27-3 Panthers (68 points), who sit eight points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth, while the Islanders (35-21-5) hold third place in the Metropolitan Division with 75 points.
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a milestone game for Schaefer, who is the front-runner for the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year.
The 18-year-old defenseman collected an assist for his first three-point NHL game. He also became the youngest defenseman in league history to reach the 20-goal plateau, and the fourth rookie blueliner in league history to reach that mark. Schaefer is only three goals behind Brian Leetch for the most by a rookie defenseman. He also leads this year’s rookie class in goal scoring.
Fun fact: Schaefer is only the second defenseman in Islanders history to score 20 goals in a season. The other is Hall of Famer Denis Potvin.
Meanwhile, Islanders winger Jonathan Drouin missed this game as he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov returned to action for the first time since being sidelined by an injury during the second game of the season.
Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov tied the franchise record for goals (219) in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Pavel Buchnevich tallied the winning goal while Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist for the 22-29-9 Blues. The Wild (35-16-10) holds third place in the Central Division with 80 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Wild made a minor trade yesterday, acquiring defenseman Roman Schmidt from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward Boris Katchouk.
The Pittsburgh Penguins blanked the Vegas Golden Knights 5-0. Arturs Silovs turned in a 22-save shutout, while Ben Kindel, Bryan Rust, and Justin Brazeau each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (31-15-13), who sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 75 points. The 28-18-14 Golden Knights cling to first place in the Pacific Division with 70 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Golden Knights captain Mark Stone left this game in the first period with an injury to his left arm. There was no postgame update regarding his status.
A shootout goal by Mason McTavish gave the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames. Cutter Gauthier scored twice, and Lukas Dostal stopped 32 shots for the Ducks (33-23-3), who sit one point behind the Golden Knights. Joel Farabee and Yegor Sharangovich replied for the 24-28-7 Flames.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Speaking of Calgary, the city is on the short list of host cities for the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. NHL brass, including commissioner Gary Bettman, will be in town on Monday to meet with Flames ownership and tour the construction site of the club’s new arena. Scotia Place is expected to be ready for the 2027-28 season.
Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom made 22 saves for his first NHL shutout in a 4-0 victory over the Utah Mammoth. Teuvo Teravainen scored twice for the 23-28-9 Blackhawks as they snapped a three-game losing skid. The Mammoth (31-25-4) holds the first Western Conference wild-card spot with 66 points.
San Jose Sharks rookie Michael Misa scored his first NHL overtime goal to beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1. Will Smith also scored for the Sharks (29-25-4, 62 points), who sit three points behind the Seattle Kraken for the final Western Conference wild-card berth. Morgan Barron scored for the 23-26-10 Jets.
HEADLINES
LOS ANGELES TIMES: The Kings fired Jim Hiller as head coach and named associate coach DJ Smith their interim coach for the rest of this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hiller was in his second full season as the Kings’ bench boss after taking over the role midway through the 2023-24 season. He led them to a franchise-best record of 48 wins and 105 points last season, but couldn’t replicate that success. They’re struggling to remain in the Western Conference playoff race and are among the league’s lowest-scoring teams.
Smith was head coach of the Ottawa Senators from 2019 to 2023. It will be interesting to see if he can reverse the Kings’ fortunes down the stretch.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: The Oilers placed winger Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Alec Regula on waivers. If they clear, they will be sent to the club’s AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, clearing over $1.8 million in salary-cap space to use for the upcoming trade deadline.
TSN: Vancouver Canucks defenseman Guillaume Brisebois and St. Louis Blues forward Robby Fabbri were also placed on waivers Sunday.
RG.ORG: Philadelphia Flyers prospect winger Porter Martone sees his move from the OHL to the NCAA this season as a stepping stone on his path toward the NHL. He saw it as an opportunity to sharpen his skills and his physical game.
If his NCAA season ends on March 29, he would be eligible to sign his entry-level contract with the Flyers, which could lead to his NHL debut in April.
For L.A. fans who frequent this site, I hope DJ Smith has learned how NOT to coach since his firing by Ottawa just over 2 years ago on December 18, 2023 after being the bench-boss since 2019 and missing the playoffs every season he was on the job.
Consistently during his tenure team couldn’t keep the puck out of their own net, employing a defensive-zone coverage frequently described as “terrible” or “systemically flawed”and during his time Ottawa ranked at or near the bottom of the league in goals against, always seemingly set in motion each season by falling behind in the standings early and then playing the rest of the way in perpetual “must-win” mode.
His line matchups were constantly criticized as were his pp approaches and a total inability to adapt the play when the other team fundamentally changed their approach during a game. He also had this tendency to send certain veteran players then on the roster out on the ice for higher volumes of ice time rather than the much younger players with infinitely higher potential … sort of like what a lot of coaches tend to do as an instinctive “cover-your-ass” technique when things aren’t going well.
Good luck L.A. fans.
George, going back to Dadonov:
When he was traded to the Ducks from LVK, it was clearly stated in Capfriendly that he had a no-trade clause. Of course, Capfriendly did not have the list. But the rest of the world knew he had a trade clause. You think it would be on Vegas too to check that out!
FLA now 8 pts out of the last WC spot with 5 teams to jump over to get there and 22 games to play.
Sorry, they should sell.
Selling off Bob would set the market for keepers.
Bob’s declining stats is part of the problem. But a half-priced Bob would still be highly tradable!
But is it him or the team in front of him that is to blame for the decline?
I don’t think a coach change bump is happening this time around with LA.
Just to pile on to George’s comments. I have never known another coach in the history of the NHL to employ the strategy of giving up LAST CHANGE–Home Ice Advantage. DJ. Smith called it something else but that’s exactly what it was.
Veterans. Non stop and only veterans. Goons/4th line after giving up a goal. EVERY TIME.
Good luck King’s fans.